Transition Review

by Jesse Criss Edited with Grammarly Try it Free

Weeks: FINAL POST

In just a few short days, my transition season will be over, and I’ll be starting my new role at Apple. As one season ends a whole new chapter is about to begin. Over the last three months, I have been blogging the Good, Bad and Ugly each week(ish). For this last post, I want to look back and answer the questions in light of the whole transition.

However, I wanted to say THANK YOU to everyone who has been reading these posts, praying for us and have encouraged me along the way. Your all epic and I love and appreciate it more then you can know.

What was GOOD about the transition? I/We decided early on to make this transition season like a sabbatical. Sabbath is a biblical principle around rest, specifically resting in Jesus. Ken Shigematsu, in his book “God in my everything” adds that sabbath should be a break from your regular routine. To do things you wouldn’t normally do every day and meet God in those moments. Since June, I have spent my time chasing those kinds of moments and trying my best to rest my heart, mind, body and soul. It’s been one of the best sabbath breaks of my life and a blessing.

What was BAD about the transition? The mental battle you go through as you leave a job, apply for a job, get rejected from a potential career and repeat the process can be exhausting. I did rest for sure, but there were days that everything seemed to be extremely hard. I was grumpy, angry, hurt and unsure about the future. It ‘wasn’t the norm, but they were extremely hard days.

What was UGLY about the transition? The first 20-30 days were rough. It felt like I was going through an emotional detox. All while everyone in my home was learning how to live with each other 24/7. I don’t know when it switched, BUT I know around the beginning of July everything just fell into place.

How’s my HEART at the end? Overall if I had to give it a rating out of 10, I would give it a 9. My heart has stayed intact for much of this adventure. God gave me peace early on, and that hasn’t shifted at all. There were hard days, tricky conversations and moments where I wasn’t sure what would happen next, but I knew God was in control. I think this answer has so much to do with looking at this time as a sabbatical verse being angry and bitter at the situation.

What made me the HAPPIEST? Time with my family. For a time, we thought our next adventure would be away from the coast and where we currently live. So we broke out the list of all the things we wanted to do and because we had time we got a lot of it done. This season will go down in history as a one-of-a-kind summer. The girls are the right age, and we had lots of time, and Twyla had freedom with her work. It all came together to give our family and adventure. Family is everything for Twyla, and I and this summer just reinforced that reality.

FINAL THOUGHT: As I have said in my last post, I’m switching careers, but Fresh Ministry isn’t going anywhere. As a new chapter is about to begin, I find myself healthy, happy and whole ready for whatever God would have for me. These are exciting days and thank you for being part of the journey.

If you would like to know more about this topic or learn how to implement this in your youth program feel free to contact me.